Flight Safety Information
February 21, 2012 - No. 037
In This Issue
Europe meets air safety targets
US Airways airport worker dies in 'tragic accident' in Phoenix
Unruly passenger forces Houston-bound jet back to PDX
ARGUS PROS Global Auditing
Honolulu Airport power outage causes 75 flight delays
Flight attendant tested drunk after flight to Grand Forks
PIA orders five Boeing 777s
Europe meets air safety targets
In its 2011 annual safety report, the Safety Regulation Commission (SRC) confirms that
Europe has met its safety targets as set by ECAC for ATM-related accidents. With data
for 2010 showing an increase in the number of incidents reported, which reflects an
improvement in the reporting culture, a number of key safety areas to improve have
been identified.
Among these areas, a critical concern is raised on the lack of resources and qualified
staff at national level dedicated to safety data collection and analysis. The resourcing of
the National Supervisory Authorities (NSAs) continues to be a crucial factor for
complying with the timelines given for their full range of activities which keep on
increasing in parallel to the new Single European Sky (SES) legislative developments.
Whereas States are seen to be performing well in areas related to the adoption and
enactment of European legislation, the 2011 results from the ESIMS Audit Programme
(ESARR Implementation Monitoring and Support) again confirm issues in the areas
related to the implementation of the basic processes for safety oversight said Harry Daly,
Chairman of the SRC.
The report underlines that the considerable effects of the global economic downturn have
yet to be fully felt in the ATM safety field. Widespread budget cuts have been applied in
ATM that can affect the availability of safety resources in the short term said Harry Daly,
Chairman of the SRC.
The report also adds that additional pressure on operating budgets for both Air
Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) and regulators is seen as inevitable. The industry
will be relying on its previous investments in safety culture, resources and infrastructure
to ensure that safety is allocated to the correct place.
With the legislative developments in the SES, it becomes ever more important to ensure
that the difficult economic situation does not have a negative effect on NSAs. Efforts
need to be made at European level to improve the support that is given to NSAs and to
ensure that they have the resources and the training to deliver their important function.
said Harry Daly, Chairman of the SRC.
The Eurocontrol Agency is assessing how best it could provide support to its Member
States.
Source: EUROCONTROL
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US Airways airport worker dies in 'tragic accident' in Phoenix
A US Airways employee died Friday after becoming stuck between two luggage conveyor
belts at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, The Arizona Republic reports.
The Republic writes:
Robert Demarco, 60, was working about 11:50 a.m. (local time) in the U.S.
Transportation Security Administration's checked- baggage inspection area of Terminal 4
when he became stuck between the upper and lower conveyor belts of the baggage
system, said Officer James Holmes, a Phoenix police spokesman.
Phoenix police officers and Fire Department paramedics responded to the inspection
area, where Demarco was pronounced dead.
Holmes tells the Republic Demarco's death does not appear to be suspicious.
"This appears to be a tragic accident and Phoenix Police detectives will be working hard
to determine exactly how and why this incident occurred," Holmes is quoted as saying by
FOX 10 of Phoenix.
"It's a sad incident," US Airways spokeswoman Michelle Mohr adds to the East Valley
Tribune of suburban Phoenix. "We're cooperating fully with authorities in helping to
determine how this happened. Right now, our concern is Mr. DeMarco's family and
colleagues and taking care of them."
Demarco leaves behind a wife and four children, according to the Tribune.
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/02/us-airways-worker-dies-in-
phoenix/631664/1
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Unruly passenger forces Houston-bound jet back to PDX
PORTLAND, Ore. - Passengers aboard Continental Flight 1118 from Portland to Houston
say the plane had just lifted-off when a passenger became unruly.
"We were taking off, and the plane was still at an incline, and the flight attendant rushed
back to the economy class. I looked back and there were all kinds of disturbances,"
passenger Nancy Haywood said.
Haywood was sitting at the front of the plane when she said she witnessed several men
holding down a passenger, while a flight attendant placed plastic hand-cuffs on him.
According to passengers, he was smoking an E-cigarette, when the flight attendant
asked him to put it out.
"He would not extinguish his cigarette, and became belligerent, and said he would not,
that's when the action started," Haywood said.
The plane turned back, landed in Portland, and Port of Portland officers took the man
into custody for questioning. Passengers were asked to give statements.
"The police came onboard and arrested him, and he was looking at everybody and
talking and chatting, and thought he was very funny," Haywood said.
The case has now been turned over to the FBI, according to Steve Johnson with the Port
of Portland.
E-cigarettes are not on the TSA's list of banned items, but Continental says smoking of
any kind is not permitted, which includes the steam emitted from e-cigarettes.
It is unclear what charges the passenger, who has not been identified, could face.
"I just don't know why he thought he could get away with it," Haywood said.
http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Unruly-passenger-forces-Houston-bound-
jet-back-to/1vzBtrEwa0-kXBKi7z5OXQ.cspx
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Honolulu Airport power outage causes 75 flight delays
An early morning power outage at Honolulu International Airport's inter-island terminal
caused major delays for Hawaiian Airlines' neighbor island flights.
In all, 75 flights were affected on every island after security doors that provide access to
jetways would not open for three hours. State crews were conducting a monthly test of
the emergency generator when something went wrong at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.
When we were switching power back to our commercial system the breaker, something
happened to the breaker it malfunctioned and that's what caused the outage," said Dan
Meisenzahl, spokesman for the State Department of Transportation.
The emergency generator immediately kicked in but the system does not power
everything in the terminal including doors that require security card keys.
"The doors automatically as soon as there's a loss in power they immediately shut-down
and lockdown so they worked exactly how they were supposed to work," said
Meisenzahl. "And that means we couldn't open the gates to the jetways to get to the
planes."
And that would have an enormous ripple affect on neighbor islands flights.
"We had access to jet-ways starting at about 7:15 this morning so that's full two hours
after we started operating so all those first flights were delayed and that has a domino
affect throughout the day," said Wagner. Power was fully restored by 7:20 but by then
the delays had begun. "We've put on two of our spare aircraft are flying today along
with extra crews that we put on first thing to try to help keep up with the schedule."
Passengers were alerted about the delays. And while some were forced to literally run
off to their final destinations.
"I'm late I'm late."
Most were grinning and bearing it.
"It is what it is," said Kaimi Chung of Hilo. "You live in Hawaii it's the best place to be in
so even though you get a little frustrated like this you know you live in Hawaii."
"They kept us informed and that was good," said Glenn Doi of Oahu. "At least instead of
keeping us in the dark and saying in a little while, in a little while like they do on some of
the other airlines."
Besides security doors, the emergency generator does not supply power to censored
toilets.
"The power goes off and it doesn't work," said Bernie Pila and Joan Antone say no one
could flush for three hours.
"They should have it by manual," said Antone.
"Yeah rough morning but we handle," said Pila.
A rough morning for custodians but an even tougher day for passengers.
"Most flights have been delayed about 30 minutes but we've had some extended delays
one flight was delayed for two-and-a-half hours," said Wagner.
Hawaiian Airlines caught up with flights by 5 p.m., 13 hours after the power went out.
http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Honolulu-Airport-power-outage-causes-75-
flight/vYFNDBY2C0SAmLYFumz9GA.cspx
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Flight attendant tested drunk after flight to Grand Forks
A drunk Pinnacle Airlines flight attendant had a blood alcohol content more than twice
the legal driving limit Sunday when she was taken off a Delta connecting flight at the
Grand Forks International Airport.
The flight was canceled and the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it's
investigating the incident, as is Pinnacle, the Memphis-based company that flies
connecting flights for Delta.
According to a report made available Tuesday from Beth Skari, the Grand Forks police
officer on duty Sunday at the airport, a Delta Airlines employee asked her to assist with
an employee who appeared intoxicated when the Pinnacle jet landed.
After determining the woman was intoxicated, police filed the report as inactive and,
because it is not a criminal matter, turned over its evidence to the airline, a police
spokeswoman said.
The flight attendant, a woman of 51 from a Twin Cities suburb, was the sole flight
attendant on the Pinnacle jet that had just arrived from Minneapolis and was scheduled
to leave on the return flight at 1:07 p.m.
But a nurse practitioner on the arriving flight had told the pilot and co-pilot that the
woman appeared drunk, Skari wrote in her report. Sgt. Jay Middleton came to the
airport to assist Skari with the incident.
Skari noted than when she interviewed the flight attendant, "...she spoke with a thick
tongue and was slurring her speech, making her hard to understand . . . . (She) denied
consuming any alcohol and stated she did not have any medical conditions. (She) did
sway and was very deliberate in her movements and when walking. I could smell a
moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath, and had (her) blow in
my face."
The woman cooperated with Skari, but failed several sobriety tests and misspelled her
own name when giving it to Skari, according to the police report.
Her blood alcohol content showed up at 0.186 on a breathalyzer.
In North Dakota and Minnesota, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content of 0.08
or higher.
A Pinnacle employee took the woman to Altru Hospital for more testing.
Meanwhile, Pinnacle staff did a "sweep," of the 50-passenger jet, and found three empty
"sampler-size" 50-milliliter bottles of Skyy Vodka, that gave off the same odor Skari
smelled on the flight attendant's breath, according to Skari's report. Such a sampler
bottle holds 1.7 ounces of liquid.
There was no indication the flight from Minneapolis had served any alcohol.
Pinnacle spokesman Joe Williams told the Herald that the flight attendant was relieved of
duty pending its own investigation.
Pinnacle requires all flight crews, including flight attendants, to abstain from alcohol for
12 hours before a flight, a stricter standard than the FAA's eight-hour requirement,
Williams said.
An FAA spokeswoman said Monday little information was available until the investigation
was completed.
The 30 passengers on the scheduled departure were put on later flights Sunday, Williams
said.
A Grand Forks police officer is on duty for all flights coming in and out of Grand Forks to
assist the airlines and the airport.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/230125/group/homepage/
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PIA orders five Boeing 777s
WASHINGTON - Pakistan International Airlines, the country's flag carrier, has signed a
firm order for five Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) airplanes, to meet increased
demand for air travel as well as to introduce new routes.
Valued at nearly $1.5 billion at list prices, the order also includes purchase rights to PIA
for five additional 777-300ERs, the US manufacturer said in a statement.
"With passenger traffic in our region accelerating, the new 777-300ER airplanes will
continue to deliver the highest standards of technology and passenger comfort to our
customers," said Capt Nadeem Yousufzai, PIA Managing Director. "The spacious 777-
300ER has been an integral part of our long-range fleet renewal programme and its
excellent operating economics, long range capability and reliability will allow us to
expand into new long-haul markets."
In 2002, PIA became the world's first airline to purchase all three passenger models of
the 777 Family and in that year was also the launch customer for the 777-200LR (longer
range) airplane.
"We are proud that Pakistan International Airlines is a special Boeing customer that
continues to invest and trust in the industry-leading capabilities of the 777 family of
airplanes," said Marty Bentrott, vice president of Sales for the Middle East, Russia and
Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Boeing values the excellent partnership that
was established over 10 years ago and one which we hope to continue well into the
future as the airline progresses with its expansion plans."
The 777-300ER brings new twin-engine efficiency to the airline's long-haul fleet, the
statement said.
Staff Reporter from Lahore adds: PIA is going to purchase five new 777-300ER
(extended range) airplanes and the first plane in this regard will be delivered in March,
2015 while the last one in 2020, said spokesman of the airlines Syed Sultan on Tuesday.
He maintained the said planes would be purchased against 13.5 per cent less price than
planes purchased last time. He said PIA had already received ownership right of six
planes from Boeing and now PIA could replace the said planes also.
Boeing and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday announced a firm order for
five valued at nearly $1.5 billion at list prices. However spokesman said that it was a
shelf price which was negotiable.
"With passenger traffic in our region accelerating, the new 777-300ER airplanes will
continue to deliver the highest standards of technology and passenger comfort," said PIA
MD Yousufzai. With this order, PIA's 777 fleet will grow to 14, the spokesman concluded.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/22-
Feb-2012/pia-orders-five-boeing-777s
Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP, FRAeS, FISASI
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC